FUMAPEX Experience of Model Urbanisation - Meteorological and Air Quality Models for Urban Areas - page 59

Chapter 8
FUMAPEX Experience of Model Urbanisation

Alexander Baklanov and FUMAPEX Team ∗

Abstract The increased resolution of numerical weather prediction models allows
us to address more specifically, urban meteorology and air pollution processes and
forecasts. This has triggered new interests in modelling the specific features and
processes of urban areas. Recent developments and results performed within the
EU-funded project FUMAPEX on integrated systems for forecasting urban mete-
orology and air pollution are reported. Several approaches, including the effective
roughness and flux modifications, source and sink terms in the momentum, energy
and turbulent kinetic energy equations due building effects, urban soil models, etc.,
are considered as applied to different meteorological models. Issues of optimum res-
olution, parameterisation of the urban roughness sublayer, surface exchange fluxes
and the role of the urban soil layers are addressed with advanced meso- or sub-
meso meteorological and numerical weather prediction models. Recommendations,
especially with respect to advanced urban air quality forecasting and information
systems are given, together with an assessment of the further research required.

8.1 Introduction

During the last decade, substantial progress in both meso-meteorological and
numerical weather prediction (NWP) modelling and in the description of urban
atmospheric processes, have been achieved. For instance, state-of-the-art nested
NWP models have been developed which utilise land-use databases down to 1 km